Matsés National Reserve
Objective: Conservation of the existing natural resources in the Galvez, Tapiche, and Blanco rivers, in order to allow the Matsés population to continue with the traditional, permanent, and sustainable use of these rivers.
Date Established: August 26, 2009.
The Matsés National Reserve (MNR) is located in the districts of Yaquerana, Requena, and Soplin, in province of Requena, in the state of Loreto. It covers an area of 420,635.3 hectares.
The MNR is located in the Amazonian plain and has three large landscape units: hills, terraces and flood plains. Among its types of forest are those of white sand or white floored forest, those of the mainland and the flooded forests/ marshlands. In addition, its presence enables the existence of an uninterrupted binational biological corridor of more than three million hectares that includes the Sierra del Divisor Reserved Zone in Peru and three other protected natural areas in Brazil.
Likewise, the MNR hosts a very complete sample of the biological diversity of the forests of the Peruvian Amazon. It is estimated that it contains 22% of mammals, 46% of birds, 36% of amphibians, 38% of reptiles and 47% of the known fish for this region. It also has high socio-cultural and scientific values.
Its establishment implies the recognition of a wide territory that the native Matsés take advantage of ancestrally by means of the accomplishment of hunting, fishing, and harvesting routes-adjoining to their present communal territory.
Although there is still no infrastructure for tourism, there are various opportunities to reach a level that allows us to discover and learn about this undisturbed corner of our Amazon.
